ADHD CHILDREN & IRON DEFICIENCY
At first glance, Sean looks like your typical 12 year old, mesmerized by his video games. But, Sean’s mom, Susan, tells us she knew from when he was just 5 years old, he was different. “He was very unsettled and had problems sitting still in the classroom and liked to wonder around,” says Susan.
Sean has ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It’s a condition characterized by impulsivity, overactivity and inattention.
“We started him on a low dose of medication to try to help him,” says Susan.
Children with ADHD could suffer from iron deficiency. Research has found that they have half the levels of iron found in non-ADHD children.
Sean looks like a typical 12 year old, mesmerized by his video games. But, Sean’s mom, Susan knew that he was different when he was just 5 years old. “He was very unsettled and had problems sitting still in the classroom and liked to wonder around,” she says.
Sean has ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It’s a condition characterized by impulsivity, overactivity and inattention. “We started him on a low dose of medication to try to help him,” says Susan.
According to the National Mental Health Information Center, many causes of ADHD have been studied, but no one cause seems to apply to all young people with the disorder. But, in a recent study out of the archives of pediatric and adolescent medicine, researchers are now looking at a possible link between iron deficiency and children with ADHD.
“What they found was that children with ADHD have half the levels than the non-ADHD children,” reports Dr. Andrew Adesman of L.I.J.’s Schneider Children’s Hospital, New York. In the brain, iron is bound to ferritin, the levels of which are decreased by iron deficiency and increased by iron supplementation. Low ferritin levels in childhood have been reported to affect the development of the central nervous system.
“Iron is to some extent tied up with dopamine, which is one of the chemicals in the brain that is thought to be involved with children with ADHD,” explains Dr. Adesman.
Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend any routine blood tests for children with ADHD. “The next step is doing more extensive studies, looking at the relationship between iron and ADHD and seeing whether supplementing with iron can indeed improve ADHD symptoms,” states Dr. Adesman.